There is a lot of panic on many blogs about the lack of leadership from Obama. I see a lot of comments about Hillary and what could have been. You know among the three, Edwards, Obama, and Hillary, who the rational choice would have been. But the things are so fucked up now that I don't know if even she can save us. And why should she? She gave them a chance and people and the party royally fucked up.

As the blogger at The Confluence said: Ahem, here is my reaction to the presidential candidate’s forum at YearlyKos in 2007: Edwards was the reincarnation of PT Barnum, all emotion, buzzwords and as phony as a $3 bill (and mind you, I wen’t into that ballroom as an Edwards supporter.) Barack Obama looked enervated and bored, sitting onstage like he was hanging out at some sidewalk Paris bistro. He didn’t impress me as much of anything presidential or un. He was simply taking up space and had mass. Hillary Clinton was alert, a litte tentative and extremely well prepared. She got over her nerves after a few weeks.

Do I think Hillary Clinton would have made a better president? Well, I nailed the other two, didn’t I?

Barack Obama looked enervated and bored, sitting onstage like he was hanging out at some sidewalk Paris bistro. He didn’t impress me as much of anything presidential or un. He was simply taking up space and had mass.

Then they gave him a teleprompter and a 26 year old speechwriter, a brilliant orator (or a tennis head) was born.

Titus, "nothin." But I put the husks back into the boiling water, where I've added sugar.

Thanks for the tip on yeast and peppers. I would never have thought you'd sprinkle yeast on anything but water. Because you wanted to make it bubble. And, then you added this concoction to flour.

I'm sorry your mom had polio. More common back then than anyone here, knows. I think the Salk and Sabin vaccines came out at about the same time. (One's injected. The other is applied to skin the pediatrician scratches.)

Back in the summer of 1951 ... my parents had a friend whose oldest son got a sore throat. Maybe, 48 hours later was in an iron lung. And, died.

The other thing I remember? Both Sabin and Salk applied to the March of Dimes for grants. And, were turned down.

If anyone ate dandelions they were kids with way more curiosity than I had. But didn't dandelions have puffy tops? If so, we plucked them. And, blew their tops off.

Can someone answer a question for me? Some folks say that the Tea Party won the budget standoff. Why are people making this claim? The one thing that the Tea Party wanted was a monumental blow to deficit spending. The Reid/Boehner deal offers no significant cuts to spending. What gives?

I'm going to bed in a few minutes, but I have a question that someone out there might be able to help with - skunks. I've lived in this house for 8 years, and never smelled skunk. But tonight is the third night this summer that skunki odor is permeating the outside air and coming into the house. A few weeks ago my dog had a close encounter in the backyard, and it took more than a week for the odor to go away.

I sure hope people in Wisconsin are headed out to vote. Quite surprised to see no mention of it at the Althouse blog...

Go vote!!!

I'm sure Ann will mention it tomorrow. The recall elections tomorrow are in 6 of the 33 Senate districts so many of us can't vote. I've been bombarded by ads for two separate elections but my senator isn't being recalled.

Jonas Salk is a little known hero who personally created and directed the lab research team that made a vaccine to beat a virus that killed or disabled 50,000 Americans, mainly boys and girls, every summer.

If the Past Few Days Have You at Least a Little Worried... http://mittromneycentral.com/2011/08/08/obamas-horrible-no-good-day-romney-speaks-on-sp-downgrade/ is one of the most enlightening pieces I've ever seen. The future is uncertain, but we can have real hope because the more people that read this, the more people will see the light and know what we have to do to get back on track.

I heard people use tomato juice. Had a kitten once who jumped on my lap, after he'd been skunked ... And, I opened a can of Campbell's Tomato Juice on him. And, if I remember this correctly, the skunk smell went away.

(Then, I'm sure I washed the tomato juice by holding him in my hands, and turning on the kitchen faucet ... which I let run until it felt comfortable to one of my arms.) Then I stuck him under the flow.

Followed by wrapping him in a towel. Where I managed to hold him till he felt safe enough to bounce out of "confinement."

You know, a call to the animal control officer might help you find where the skunk's nest might be? (In or near a sewer drain, perhaps?)

Eventually they get eaten by coyotes, though. It's just nature's way of providing the "food tree."

There are enclosed live traps available for catching skunks that are made small enough so the skunk can't lift its tail and spray.

Brother-in-law has a big barrel he fills with water and immerses the whole trap in it. Bubble, bubble,no more stink. Dumps the carcass in the woods away from houses.

Neighbor shoots skunks caught in a regular live trap. She tolerates the stink...yuck.

I quit using dry/canned cat food in live traps, caught too many feral cats. I take them to the vet where he'll neuter/spay for cost and I bring them home and let them go. Even "cost" is too damn expensive.

Titus, you have a slight credibility problem when it comes to taste in women: I simply cannot countenance your avowed adoration for Sarah Jessica Parker. Do you know many Sex And The City episodes I have endured like second hand smoke? Huh?

It may be seen as a travesty to some, but I like my sweet corn cut off the cob, with butter and black pepper, and I like it best when I'm wearing only my underwear on a hot summer night under the stars, sitting on cool patio furniture.

When I was a kid in western PA, my family would go out as a team to pick dandelions for dinner salad. You don't eat the flowers - just the leaves like spinach. We didn't do it because it was delicious, but because it was edible, available, free, and we were quite poor. I didn't eat it, because I hated all vegetables, other than french fries, until I was an adult. Avoid dandelions from dog parks.

Jonas Salk came to my school a few times when they were first distributing the vaccine in Pittsburgh. We kids were lab rats but our parents were so terrified of polio they thought it was ok to be a lab rat. Salk would give shots and take blood samples, and sometimes this was photographed. He once broke off a blood draw needle in my arm.

I agree with you about sweet corn. Good corn needs nothng but a little hot water and salt. Heck, it is tasty off the stalk.

I will adopt your rare clumber if anthing happens to you. And I pledge to say to the rare clumber each day, I am not your master, Titus is, but I promised to take care of you. And I will instruct my kids to respect the rare clumber and not to abuse it.

I hope you post your stadium hand drawn sketches (the ones with the little people) to Ann for posting.

Dandelions are good before they flower. After that they are too bitter.

There is no tomato better than a Jersey tomato. I am not sure why, but it is true. Even tomatos in their birthplace in the Andes yearn to be planted in Jersey.

There is a lot of panic on many blogs about the lack of leadership from Obama. I see a lot of comments about Hillary and what could have been. You know among the three, Edwards, Obama, and Hillary, who the rational choice would have been. But the things are so fucked up now that I don't know if even she can save us.

Two things:

1) No one can save us - we've got to save ourselves - that's what the Tea Party is all about and she ain't part of it.

2) Except in Ann's mind, there was nothing rational about the last election.

Alan,

Can someone answer a question for me? Some folks say that the Tea Party won the budget standoff. Why are people making this claim? The one thing that the Tea Party wanted was a monumental blow to deficit spending. The Reid/Boehner deal offers no significant cuts to spending. What gives?

We redirected the conversation, humiliated Bambi, there's no new taxes but some spending reduction. It's the best we could do from where we are - a win is a win - and a win from a weak position is huge.

Just to give you an idea of how big a win this was, I was watching The Daily Show after the budget deal, and when Jon Stewart showed his audience how little spending had been reduced, they booed. Imagine that: